rappybrown@gmail.com

Alright, so I am going this weekend to look at a used 2002 audi a8L. This particular car has 150k miles on it and the asking price is $2950... This is going to be my first audi, the interior and exterior of the car are in pristine condition. Now my questions are more relating to the engine. The particular individual that is selling it to me has only had it for a year, however, he seems to know the previous owner personally. He claims that it has been nothing, but great for him. However, he does not have any receipts for work done on the car, so i do not know how trustworthy he can be. If I buy this car, I will not have another 3k to dish out on this car in the next month. I am fairly good with doing my own fixes and am more then willing to do small repairs that are sub $200. I am just wondering if you guys have any tips on what I should look for when I am inspecting the car to insure that all of the very expensive parts are operating well. And if you guys think that this is a good deal in general.
Thanks, Chase

Articus

Here are a few related to expensive fixes off the top of my head:

1) Check power steering/servotronic. Steering should not be heavy at low speed. Check color of fluid in the power steering reservoir and make sure it's not leaking

2) Check for pink coolant.

3) I assume that you're familiar with potential transmissions issues of this era Audi A8.

4) Find out when the last the timing belt was done.

rappybrown@gmail.com

thank you for the tip about the power steering I have not heard of that one yet. I am aware of the coolant color and I have heard the horrors of the transmissions, do you know of any ways that I can tell if the transmission is about to go or if it is running well? besides the obvious noises during a gear change and inconsistent gear shifts.

the_duke

Other than the obvious trans issues you mentioned there is no way to know if it is going to fail. Often they work perfectly until they don't. Timing belt is a big one at that mileage as it's time for belt change #2(every 75k miles). All Audi's are interference motors meaning if the belt breaks it bends all the valves. You're looking at $400-600 in parts. Then you have to buy the timing tools. Not very expensive there at about $75. But you said this is your first Audi so I don't know how you're setup for basic German car tools like torx and triple square bits. Timing belt job isn't too difficult but can be pretty daunting if you aren't used to that sort of thing. You'd be looking at $1200-$1800 to have a shop do it. If you plan on having a shop do work on the car you must find a good VW/Audi specific shop. A regular shop WILL break your car. Audi's are not cheap to maintain. And you must maintain them or they will break.

Y888

If he is selling it after a year he is probably scared that something will go wrong.
Check if the trans output seal is leaking onto the exhaust,this happened to me.

dan87951

I would not recommend a D2 A8 as a first car especially if you have no money. The maintenance alone will break you! This is an old car and will need lots of servicing to keep on the road.

Greg Elmassian

I just sold my D2 with 192k miles... original engine, running strong and low emissions.

I have replaced the radiator (it is not lifetime coolant), so check out that the car does not heat up easily.

I had the multiway seats in the rear, i.e. with the lumbar adjusters, check all of these if you have them, they break often. Check the seat heaters if you have them and want them.

Check the cruise control. Check the motor mounts. For the tranny have someone go into it and check for codes, often it will run ok, but show intermittent errors on some of the valves. Warning sign if it is the original tranny, I replaced mine at 160k and the car was treated well and mostly freeway miles.

Check to see if the tire monitoring system actually works.

If nothing else, make the guy drop his price to fix some of these issues.

Oh, check the sunroof for smooth operation, and pull the front mats and look for water damage, it took them a while to figure out the sunroof drains would clog and dump into the interior.

That's all I can think of besides the good suggestions already made.

Greg

Sambar Stag

Go to Audipages.com. Click on the UsedA8/S8 Buyers Guide. Lots of very good advice and info on there. Be prepared to look under the car to check a variety of items. Be aware that parts are not only expensive, but sometimes hard to find.

jfrahm

I personally would not worry about the coolant color, just the condition. Mixing can be bad news and neglecting is terrible but IMO it's not something to freak out over.
My S8 came with green coolant in it, when it's ready for a change I'll flush it out and go to... um... G13? G48? Dexcool? I dunno, I'll figure it out when the time comes.

Brake fluid also gets neglected and leads to stuck brake pistons and ABS/ESP system trouble. That's important to check.

IMO it's not a car to buy if some repair bills are going to be a problem. Repairs are a lot cheaper if you can wait for (used or new) parts to get shipped to you with the car not running for a week every now and then, that helps a lot. Obviously if the trans fails you are either stuck with a very large bill or a car that's worth very little and is hard to sell, if that's annoying but you can still get to work and stuff then that's an option. If the A8 blowing up means immediately going deep into debt for some crappy car from the buy-here-pay-here then no, the D2 is not the car for you. Look at a decent $1500 Camry or something and have money for catch-up maintenance, repairs, etc.

If you get the car you should be OK with having to put a trans in it or junking it with a bad trans, or do not get it (in my opinion).

If you do get it, there are a few things you should replace right away or expect to break down on the side of the road somewhere:

Fuel pump
Serpentine belt tensioner (or just the tensioner roller, the Hyundai 2.7L part works)
Serpentine belt idler (bearing could just be repacked)
Serpentine belt, if not recent
Maybe the alternator, I'd check it out good while servicing the serpentine belt including the brushes.

Alternators can be rebuilt pretty easily or the Bosch Remans look pretty good. Getting a used one and rebuilding it, then swapping it in and keeping the old one as a spare is a good strategy. I keep a spare alternator in my car on long trips, you are going nowhere with a dead alternator until you have an A8 alternator to install and no one will have one in stock.

-Joel.

pocketchange

Get a flashlight (torch) and look into the oil filler port (hole). It's great to find a nice clean filler. If not, be prepared.
Plus all the other things that need attention.
Getting an 02' for that price is great if the car looks good, there is a very good chance it has been well maintained.

BTW, it will cost you (plenty) to get all of the systems rebuilt//changed.

Look forward to many years of great driving. pc